Afternoon Memories
by Higuchimon
Summary: [3/3 chapters, complete, Mokuba, Seto, & Bakura friendship] Mokuba is stuck alone waiting for his brother to come get him. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring has plans to use that to his advantage.
1. Interruptions In Routine

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** Afternoon Memories  
**Chapter Title:** Interruptions In Routine  
**Story Word Count:** 4,770  
**Chapter Word Count:** 4,770  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Focus:** Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Mokuba, Bakura Ryou, Yami no Bakura  
**Notes:** This takes place somewhat loosely after Duelist Kingdom and Yugi's duel with Otogi Ryuuji/Duke Devlin, and before Battle City. Bakura is aware that the dark Spirit of the Ring has returned and that he has the Ring again, but he hasn't told anyone about this. The reasons why are touched on in here. This has some manga inspiration, mainly events concerning Bakura and previous friends, as well as Mokuba being aware of 'another Yugi' and what he himself likes to play. The story concerning Amane and Bakura's mother is my interpretation of their deaths, and may have little or nothing to do with what actually happened. This was inspired by **The Waiting Game**, a mild Seto/Anzu written by **TheFutureMrsKaiba**. I believe this has been removed since, but that was where the inspiration came from, and the author of that fic was told I drew my inspiration from their story. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** Mokuba is stuck alone waiting for his brother to come get him. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring has plans to use that to his advantage.

* * *

Someone was going to get fired for this. Kaiba wasn't exactly certain on who would the unlucky victim of his temper, but there would be _someone_. This was not what he wanted to find out when he finally emerged from school. His chauffer shifted slightly, feeling one of those infamous glares burning into him. He'd never really had one of them turned on _him_ before, though he'd seen other KaibaCorps workers and the occasional classmate of his employer suffering under them.

"And what is the cause of this, Arakaki?" The tone of his voice said quite clearly that there had _better_ be an explanation that not only made sense, but meant he would be on his way within a few seconds, or faster if at all humanly possible. Or even if it wasn't humanly possible. Either was good for him.

"Sir, we have a flat tire." Arakaki Yori was having a day that could have been classified as coming straight from the bowels of Hell. Being responsible for taking the elder Kaiba wherever he needed to go wasn't the dream job he kept telling all of his friends it was. He was going to have his third ulcer any day now, he just knew it. "It appears to have been caused by a knife of some kind being jabbed into the tire. Probably the work of one of the local gangs."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed, turning them into furious sapphire ice. He made a mental note to check once more into getting himself a private tutor, instead of having to go through the public school system for another couple of pointless years. This was the kind of thing one expected at a school like Rintama, not Domino High! "If that's all there is to it, I expect the spare to be on momentarily."

Arakaki could feel that ulcer starting up right this very second. Or worse, having to look for another job. If anyone would even consider hiring him after _this_, which they probably wouldn't. Where in town could he go that wasn't owned at least partially by KaibaCorp in the first place? "Sir, we don't have a spare tire." He wondered if Kaiba had ever considered switching from being a CEO to being an assassin. Those killer eyes could really be _killer eyes_ if he were angry enough. He wanted to die on the spot.

"Why?" The word was clipped sharply enough to cause lacerations.

"It hasn't been replaced from the last time the tire had to be changed." Arakaki wondered just how painful his death would be, and if it would be fast or slow. There were rumors to both kinds floating through the company grapevine, and he'd never really bothered with deciding which one he'd believed. After all, he was the chauffer, a position that practically guaranteed job security! At least he'd thought it had.

He decided not to wait for another razor-edged question. "A new tire can be here in just a few minutes, sir, it won't take hardly any time at all. You won't be late for anything."

Kaiba's eyes flicked at once down to his watch, then back up to his employee. Arakaki had never believed in anything that remotely resembled psychic powers, but at that moment he knew exactly what was going through his boss's mind: _I had better not be._ He was being spared, at least for the moment. Probably because he couldn't be replaced very readily, if nothing else. It would be a good idea to get his resume checked over, though. But at least he wasn't fired _yet_. Which meant he had a chance to fix this. He grabbed for his cell phone and dialed up the nearest service station, praying that things worked out _some_how.

The CEO turned away from his underling, gaze dropping down to his watch again. This would have to happen at the worst of times. What Arakaki had said echoed slightly in his mind: _you won't be late for anything._ But there was no way he could avoid being late. With various schools getting out around this time, and the usual state of traffic in this town, there would be no way that any kind of service vehicle could get there even within half an hour, and by then, he would be _very_ late.

It was for nothing at KaibaCorp, though. Anyone there could wait until he chose to show up. Something far more important was going to be delayed because of this: picking his little brother up from his own school. He knew he should've set aside another limo to take Mokuba where he needed to go, but he _liked_ having a few quiet moments to spend with his brother whenever he could. It wasn't as if he got much other time to spend with him, with everything he had to do. He'd fix that when he had the chance, though.

"Sir," Arakaki's phone clicked off quietly. "I was able to get in touch with a service station nearby. They'll have someone out here with a new tire as soon as they can. There's been an accident not that far from them, however, so it might take a little longer than expected." Kaiba mentally approved; his chauffer didn't look quite as if he were going to fall apart on the spot. He just might have enough spine to keep on working with the company.

"Very well." Kaiba pulled out his own cell phone. There was no getting around the fact he was going to be late to pick his brother up. The school was just far away enough so that walking was out of the question, unfortunately. For all the time he might supposedly save, it would be more efficient to simply wait and drive there once the new tire arrived and was installed.

A button click or two later, and Mokuba's personal cell phone was ringing. "Hey, Seto!" His brother's eternally cheerful voice answered. "Don't tell me you've got to get to the building already, I didn't think you had any meetings until later."

Trust Mokuba to figure out he was going to be late, quite probably before _he_ had.

"No, there's something else going wrong. A flat tire." This was said in tones that in a different speaker would have quite probably been used for the words 'visiting space aliens'. "I have a replacement coming in, but it might take a while because of traffic and some kind of accident." This was the kind of thing that was supposed to happen to _other people_, not to the Kaibas! The teenage CEO was not enjoying his afternoon.

"Oh." He hated hearing the disappointment in his brother's voice. He'd find a way to make it up to him somehow. Perhaps giving him something to do at KaibaCorp? Nothing very stressful, Mokuba didn't need that, but something that would help him out and let them spend more time together? "About how long is it going to be?"

The answer was one that was seldom heard from Kaiba Seto. "I have no idea." He heard familiar voices and looked up to see Yugi and his small entourage heading out of the school, chatting animatedly with each other. Great. That was just what he didn't need right now, all of them seeing him stranded. It would be different if any of them had some mode of transportation other than a motorcycle, but as that wasn't the case, they were nothing but an annoyance right now. As they were most other times. "I'll be there as soon as I can, though. Find some place out of the way and wait for me."

Maybe he could contact the house and get a limo sent out of him. No, while that would get his brother home, and maybe even get him picked up, it still would be an unnecessary waste of resources. He wanted that time alone with Mokuba, and he doubted that any of his vehicles could get here before the repair truck at any rate.

"All right. I'll see you when you get here, Seto. Don't be too long, I might get bored and decide to walk home by myself!" Mokuba's teasing tone sent a faint chill down Seto's spine. No, he would _not_!

"Don't even think about it, Mokuba. Stay right there." There was no way he was going to risk his brother going through some of the bad neighborhoods between their place and his school. And knowing his kidnapping-prone brother, _something_ would happen between the two places. "It won't be all that long."

"All right, I was just joking!" Mokuba sounded a little upset, but his brother couldn't decide right away just why. He'd talk to Mokuba about it when he had the chance. "I'll be right here, Seto. Just don't take too long."

""I have no intentions of being too long. I have projects of my own that can't be delayed indefinitely." There were three meetings that he had to deal with before he could go home and stay that evening, among other things. "Be patient, Mokuba. Find one of your friends to stay with you if possible. Good-bye."

Waiting just long enough to hear his brother's farewell, he clicked his cell phone off and put it away, just in time to see Yugi and the entire gang staring at him. They'd at least had the courtesy to remain quiet while he was talking to Mokuba, but he couldn't see any reason for them to stand there as if they had nothing better to do with their time. _Don't they have to go play with each other in their little amateur duels or something?_

"Problems, Kaiba?" Yugi stared at him with eyes that had to be far too large for his head. Was it even legal to look like that? It should be, even if it wasn't.

"A flat tire." Arakaki responded before Kaiba had a chance to open his mouth. At a single look from the teen, the chauffer crawled back inside the limousine and closed the door.

Jonouchi shook his head sympathetically. "That's gotta suck. Waiting for a tow?"

Why did he have to suffer like this? Couldn't he get just five minutes out of his day without them being around? It was bad enough he had to be in the same school with them. "No, I'm waiting for a new tire to be delivered. Don't you have someplace else to be?" He refused to be seen with them, much less _by_ them, any more than was absolutely necessary.

"Well, Grandpa is waiting for me at the shop," Yugi at least had the common sense to realize that they weren't wanted around here. "Wish there was something we could do to help, Kaiba."

"Leaving will be all the help I need. I have work to do." He considered mentioning they were distracting him, but why let them know? It was entirely possible they'd never leave in that case, and launch into some kind of rant about how he needed to think of them as friends or whatever. He wasn't in the mood for that, and would quite probably hire someone to take them all out if they did. While the relief on his ears would be welcome, the price prohibited it. At least right now. If they didn't leave soon, he might rethink things.

Was one of them actually coming closer? He was. It was Jonouchi, that amateur. "Hey, I heard you talking to Mokuba. I can go hang out with him and keep him out of trouble til you get there, Kaiba."

Somewhere, somehow, _someone_ was having a great deal of fun laughing about this, Kaiba was quite positive of it. As soon as he knew who it was, they were going to wish their great-grandparents had never met one another. He directed his gaze slightly to the left of Jonouchi's eyes, refusing to actually look at him. If he did, he would hit the idiot, he was certain of it. "You? Keep him out of trouble? That's a laugh."

Without waiting for any kind of response, since the only one he wanted was them leaving, Kaiba pulled himself back into his limousine and opened his laptop, plunging deep into what work he could get accomplished while having to sit here still. It wasn't his air-conditioned office at the KaibaCorp building, but that didn't mean he couldn't be productive.

Out of the corner of one eye, he noticed the group of amateurs heading away from him. He could tell Jonouchi was probably saying something about him, what with the way his arms were flailing about frantically, but he didn't much care. All the others appeared to be finding great humor in whatever it was, though, as revealed by their laughing and giggling.

Wait, not all of them were. That one with the weird hair color, who wasn't Yugi. Kaiba racked his brain briefly, priding himself on knowing the names of everyone around him, no matter how little notice he took of them. One never knew when someone might be useful. This person's hair was so pale of a lavender that the casual observer might think it was actually white. His back was to the limo, so Kaiba couldn't tell what color his eyes were. _I saw him with Yugi and the others at Duelist Kingdom._ He couldn't remember ever having been introduced to him, even mildly, though.

_At least **he** has sense enough not to laugh at someone making fun of his betters._ Kaiba snorted softly to himself, then turned his attention back to the work at hand. With a few clicks of keys, he had a countdown set up on one corner of his screen. When it reached zero, if the repair truck wasn't already there, they'd have a few words from Kaiba Seto in their ears when they _did_ arrive.

* * *

Bakura was just able to keep his amusement down to a small smile as Jonouchi finished his ranting about the wealthy CEO who had just so effectively shot him down. He wouldn't have really minded laughing out loud, but it would have gone against his basic rule of life: staying unnoticed. Silence gave you so much more than sound.

"I should go find Mokuba anyway and keep him company!" Jonouchi grumbled, swinging his bag from one shoulder to another. "That'd show Kaiba!"

"Why bother?" Anzu asked, wonder and confusion in her voice. "It's not like he'd care even if you did."

"Besides, you said you'd duel with me," Yugi put in, bouncing ahead a little. "You're not backing out, are you?"

Honda laughed, leaning over to whack his blond friend on the arm. "Yeah, you can't back out of _that_. Who knows, you might even win this time!"

"Funny, Honda, really funny," Jonouchi glowered briefly at the other boy. "Yeah, I'm gonna play you, Yugi. Can't stay too long, though, dad's expecting me home."

Yugi nodded at once, violet eyes sparkling with joy at the thought of a duel that had nothing to do with saving anyone's soul or keeping his own out of danger. "I'm sure you'll win one of these days, Jonouchi!" He stopped in his tracks, a rich red blush creeping over his cheeks. "I didn't mean that like it sounded you know!"

_Despite how true it is._ Bakura tried not to react to the voice that sounded only in his ears, or his mind to be more accurate. The Spirit of the Ring had been a little more vocal in the days since Duelist Kingdom, making the occasional comment and observation on Yugi and his friends. It appeared he was going to watch them for a while before making any more attempts to claim their Items, and Bakura wished he knew why. There seemed to be some kind of extra smugness in his unwelcome tenant's mind-tone these days, and Bakura himself had his own notions on why this was. He refused to voice any of them, though, even to himself. The way Pegasus had just vanished was never far from his mind, nor was the fact the spirit's smugness dated from the disappearance of the game-creator.

"I know you didn't, Yugi." Jonouchi ruffled his friend's spiky hair merrily. "Besides, you've always beaten me fair and square every time. If I gotta lose, at least it's to someone who doesn't cheat." All of them nodded; the lessons of Duelist Kingdom would never fade, with more cheaters and mistaken duelists than they'd ever thought they would meet having shown up.

"Are you guys coming to the shop?" The tri-color haired teen looked at the rest of the group. "Grandpa wouldn't mind, I know. He's got some new cards in, too." Grandpa never lost the chance to show off what he knew about Duel Monsters, to anyone who would sit still long enough to listen. Or who could be made to sit still.

"Sure, I'll come," Honda shrugged casually, Anzu agreeing a breath or two later. Bakura was about to add his own voice in agreement when someone easily spoke through his lips.

"I'm afraid not, Yugi. I have a special project I've got to begin tonight, so I really must be going. Maybe next time?" The Spirit of the Ring had so smoothly taken over that Bakura himself hadn't noticed it had happened until he'd spoken. He blinked from the confines of his soul room, shaking his head. The Spirit was getting _far_ too good at this.

What was even scarier, and sadder, was the fact no one else seemed to notice any kind of difference. "No problem, Bakura." Yugi waved slightly at him as they came to a crossroads. This was where they usually met in the mornings, and now where they'd be parting ways. "See you tomorrow!"

"See you!" The Spirit raised Bakura's hand to wave cheerily, then as soon as the rest of the group was out of sight, shoved his host back into place abruptly.

Bakura shook his head again, trying to adjust to the quick shiftings. How _had_ Yugi stood this kind of thing during the duel with Pegasus? He'd heard from Anzu and Jonouchi about how the small duelist and his own spirit-companion had outfoxed the wielder of the Millennium Eye, and the thought of that kind of complete trust was overwhelming.

_Don't even think about it. We have the kind of trust **I** need._ The Spirit snapped at him roughly. _Now get moving._

_Home?_ Bakura turned down the way without waiting for an answer. He knew that the Spirit had _told_ Yugi he had a 'project', but it was impossible even for him to tell the difference between truth and lies where the dark one was concerned most of the time.

There was silence for a few moments before the answer. _No. Do you know where Kaiba's brother goes to school?_

Bakura had never quite thought about it that way, but there was something similar between the Spirit and Kaiba Seto. They both tended to ask questions in a way that meant the person they were talking to had better answer in a way _they_ liked, or the consequences would be extremely harsh. "Yes. There's only one elementary school around here, anyway." There was always the chance that Mokuba had been sent to some fancy private school, but Bakura doubted it, really. It just didn't seem to fit with what he'd seen of the boy, or of the way his older brother seemed to want to keep him around.

_Then go there._ Bakura didn't wait around for an explanation, even if he'd thought he'd get it. The Spirit told him things when _he_ wanted him to know them, no sooner. That was assuming that the Spirit even bothered to let him know. Most of the time, he just had to muddle along and hope that nothing too bad happened as he tried to make sense of what he'd been told, or found out just by being shoved back into control of his body in the middle of something or other.

He had a feeling that speed was of the essence, so he took the quickest route he knew: going back up the way he'd come for a little while, then turning down a sidestreet and heading through a stereotypical dark and menacing alleyway. He took careful steps, trying not to put his feet into any of the slimy spots he could see. Some of them were even worse than slimy, and were things he couldn't put a name to.

_Watch where you're going._ The Spirit spoke up again, and Bakura could feel his attention sliding around to dark areas in the alley that he himself hadn't noticed. Were there things breathing in those places? It was hard to tell, and he didn't have the time to wait and find out. _Keep moving, host!_ He hadn't even noticed that he'd stopped moving until the Spirit had said something.

Jolted, Bakura started on through the alley again, navigating quickly around the trash, filth, and everything else. The Department of Public Works had definitely skipped this place. He stepped around a particularly large pile of something or other, balancing quickly in a slightly recessed doorway for a moment, keeping his hand on the old wooden door.

_Host! Watch out!_ He jumped at the mental shout, then gasped as the door was pulled away from his fingertips. A large meaty hand grasped his wrist and pulled him in, a long-bladed, rusty knife glittering at his throat seconds later.

"What do we have here?" The fumes of whatever kind of booze the wannabe mugger had consumed were almost enough to put Bakura on his back right then and there. "Pretty little girl, aren't you?"

For one heartbeat, if the Spirit had asked him if he would mind if the Man-Eater Bug had a nice large bite out of this person, Bakura would have gladly agreed to the act. It was bad enough some of his _classmates_ occasionally teased him about being feminine, but when total strangers tried it...

Then he reminded himself that this poor fellow probably hadn't been able to see anything clearly for years, depending on just how long his drinking problem had lasted, and it wasn't as if too many people came this way after all. The mistake could be overlooked.

Unfortunately, the Spirit of the Ring had other ideas. _I don't overlook things that interfere in my plans,_ he growled moments before seizing control of the body and taking a firm grip on the mugger's shaking wrists. "I am not a _girl_, you fool. But you do seem to have something I could use."

The drunk blinked bleary brown eyes as if he couldn't comprehend just what was going on. Things were made much clearer for him when the dark spirit broke both of his wrists and snatched up the knife before it had a chance to fall very far. "Wuh?" was the only halfway intelligent thing he said, however.

Bakura felt as if he could relate. He pulled himself away from what was going on, doing his best to pretend it was some kind of bad movie he'd somehow wandered by. He could feel some of what the Spirit was doing, and 'not pretty' was a fairly mild way to describe it.

_You really should pay attention. You might have to do this yourself someday. I won't always be around to protect you._ Most people might've thought it was said with something that could be mistaken for friendship, even affection, if they'd been able to hear it. Bakura knew otherwise. He could hear the contempt and anger that filled his dark shadow's words.

He also denied every one of them. He didn't have to pay attention, and he would _never_ have to do this kind of thing for himself. And he sincerely doubted there would ever be a time when the Spirit _wasn't_ there. There was no way he'd ever be that lucky. Of course he really didn't describe what was happening now as 'protecting him'.

_Heh. You can look now, host. It's all done with._ Bakura carefully peeked out with just one eye, making certain not to try to see _too_ much at once. While the Spirit had never exactly _lied_ to him when it came to things like this, sometimes he didn't clean up as much as he thought he had.

This wasn't one of those times, though. Every trace of the mugger was gone, except for one: the knife held protectively in his own hands. He stared down at the slightly rusted blade and started to open his fingers to get rid of it. The second he tried, the spirit took command of the hand quickly.

_Don't try that again. This belongs to me now._ A sense of satisfaction leaked over slightly from his side of their mind, and Bakura shuddered. What could he need something like this for? It wasn't even _clean_.

A snort was the only answer he got, then he felt mental hands touching his forehead. The Spirit seldom actually touched him, and he tried not to shrink away in the slightest. It wouldn't do any good, since there was nowhere that he could go to escape the tenant. What _could_ the dark shadow want with this knife? Didn't he have enough power with his deck?

_That's enough. You're beginning to be annoying, and I have too much to do today to explain things to you. As it is, you're really don't need to remember what's happened. It's not as if you even want to, anyway. Ring, remove his memory of this event!_

Bakura tried to put up some kind of a resistance to the power of the Item, but there wasn't much he could do. It responded far more to the Spirit than it did to him, after all. A brief flash of gold from somewhere in the vicinity of his chest was echoed by a flash of white in his mind, and he blinked a few times. Had something been happening? He had the feeling someone had been there just a few seconds earlier, but there was no sign of anyone there now. Maybe they'd just walked on by? But there was just _no one_, and that sent a chill down his spine. It was so similar to other things that had happened before...

_Host, if I have to tell you again to keep moving, you won't like it._ The Spirit's voice had a testy edge to it, and Bakura had no idea why. He didn't think he'd been doing anything to get on his bad side lately. He put the thoughts away and hurried along to Mokuba's school as quickly as he could. Whatever it was the Spirit wanted there, it was probably best for him not to worry about it for the moment. He didn't _think_ his other half would do anything to really hurt Mokuba, after all. That would only cause trouble the Spirit tended to avoid. But he couldn't help being a little curious, no matter how tight the rein he kept on that curiosity. The Spirit would never harm him, but he spent so little time in his proper body that he didn't want to do anything that could put his use of it in danger.

In his soul room, the dark Spirit smirked to himself, quite content with what he'd achieved already since leaving that boring place known as 'school'. He'd acquired a weapon to defend himself, in case a situation arose where he couldn't use his deck, and the chance to quite possibly get Kaiba Seto owing him (or his host, not that there was any real difference in his mind) a favor was within his grasp. Bakura would know nothing of either event, however. The knife would have to be cleaned to remove fingerprints and rust both, of course. He could keep it from Bakura's knowledge the same way he kept the knowledge of his own possession of the Millennium Eye from him.

But for now, it was the Kaibas that really concerned the spirit. If Bakura had any idea of just why he was going to the younger Kaiba's school, he would probably balk, out of sheer annoying principle. That was unacceptable. So that information as well would be kept away from the living boy. He had no idea just what kind of favor he'd be able to get from the CEO, but anything could be useful, if one was clever enough.

He relaxed, leaning against a wall, arms folded and a satisfied smile twisting his lips. There was no regret in his mind for modifying Bakura's memories. It hadn't been the first time, and it definitely wouldn't be the last. Bakura wanted nothing to do with his darker aspect's deeds, and the Spirit was perfectly content with that. He would restore them some day, though. When it suited him to do so. But that day wasn't today. For now, he just had to get to the little Kaiba's school and set the next phase of things in motion.

**To Be Continued**


	2. Searching For Mokuba

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** Afternoon Memories  
**Chapter Title:** Seaching for Mokuba  
**Story Word Count:** 9,344  
**Chapter Word Count:** 4,574  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Focus:** Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Mokuba, Bakura Ryou, Yami no Bakura **Notes:** Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** Mokuba is stuck alone waiting for his brother to come get him. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring has plans to use that to his advantage.

* * *

Mokuba sighed as he closed his cell phone and put it away. Seto was going to be in a bad mood all evening because of this, he just _knew_ it. And there wasn't anything he could do to fix it. That really got to him more than anything else.

Well, there really wasn't much else he could but sit here and wait for Seto to get there. He wanted to find one of his friends and talk with them, like his brother had suggested, but there was one problem with that: all of them had already left by the time Seto had called.

_Now what?_ He leaned against the most convenient tree he could find and watched as the teachers and other staff got their things together and left. He was certain one or two of them had looked at him, probably wondering why his brother's limo wasn't there already, and his suspicions were confirmed when one started over: his own teacher.

"Mokuba?" She bent over him, kind brown eyes full of worry. "Is something wrong? Usually you're already gone by now."

"No, not really wrong, Ms. Fujii," Mokuba smiled back a little at her. She was one of the nicer teachers he'd had in the last couple of years, but he wasn't really feeling like talking to anyone. At least not anyone he didn't know. "Seto is just a little late. Flat tire, and some traffic."

Her worry increased, and he began to curse himself inside for spilling that. It wasn't really her business, after all. "How long is he going to be? Maybe I should stay with you..."

"No, I'll be all right!" Mokuba liked his teacher, but hanging out with her? If any one of the rest of his class saw him, he'd never live it down, no matter _who_ his brother was! If he stayed with anyone, he wanted it to be someone he actually _knew_, and who preferably wasn't too weird. Somebody like Jonouchi would be great! All kinds of fun things tended to happen when he or Yugi were around. Not to mention it would probably get on Seto's nerves enough so he'd forget how annoyed he was with being late.

"If you're certain." Ms. Fujii only wanted to help, Mokuba was sure of it. But he was a Kaiba. He didn't need _this_ kind of help.

"I am. My brother won't be that long. He never is." He hoped she got the hint. Apparently she did, as she bid him farewell and headed to the nearest train station.

Once she was gone, Mokuba sighed softly and leaned back on the tree again. He hoped no one else like that tried to 'help'. _If I didn't think Seto would kill me for it, I'd go on home._ He knew the neighborhoods that he had to go through weren't exactly the greatest, but he figured he could make it. Facing up to Seto after that wouldn't be worth it, though.

At least if he stayed here, nothing very much would happen to him, except potentially becoming nearly comatose from boredom. His school's grounds weren't exactly like Duelist Kingdom, with all kinds of goons around every corridor, just waiting to grab him for some kind of plot.

Just to be certain, he looked around, trying to see if there _was_ someone hiding in the bushes. After all, no one exactly knew what had happened to Pegasus, besides the fact he'd dropped out of sight since the finals. Mokuba really had no idea what it was that had happened, but the thought of someone else popping up from nowhere to drag him away from his brother was one that had disturbed his sleep quite a while in the last few weeks. He was fairly sure he was getting over them, though. There'd only been two the previous night. That had to be a good sign.

No one else seemed to be in the area right now, though. At least not anyone who would bother him. There were one or two older kids walking by, on their own way home, he presumed, and one girl he vaguely recognized as being in the year below his ran out to meet a taller girl who came down the sidewalk to meet her. From the faint hints of conversation he could hear, they were sisters and relatively new to the area. He wondered vaguely if either of them were into Duel Monsters or Capsule Monster Chess at all. It had been a long time since he'd had a really _good_ game of Capmon, after all. At least one that he'd won. He flushed slightly just remembering how Yugi had trounced him so darned easily at the game he'd been the unquestioned master of.

_The other Yugi, really._ He wasn't really sure if he should believe there were two Yugis, but he also wasn't sure if he should believe there _weren't_. He'd seen the differences, and there was some kind of weird thing going on with Pegasus, after all. Being trapped inside of a card wasn't something you could easily forget. Unless you were his big brother, who seemed perfectly happy to consider at least part of that a rather nasty dream or bit of mental trickery on the part of the American.

A few soft whispers from several feet behind him sent chills up his spine for a few moments, til he realized what he was really hearing. _They really shouldn't be doing that **here**._ He flushed brilliant red and took a few steps away, not wanting to overhear them, and definitely not wanting _them_ to realize _he_ was there.

There were few times he was actually grateful Seto was not like other teenagers, obsessed with romance and finding someone to snuggle up with after school. This was one of them.

Unfortunately, there weren't all that many places he could go at the moment. Seto was expecting him somewhere around there, and wandering around wasn't really something he was in the mood for. There were a few gangs that liked to bother some of the kids here every now and then, mainly made up of a few dropouts, and some from the nastier schools, such as Rintama. He'd heard rumors Jonouchi had belonged to gangs like that once when he had been his age, or maybe a little older. The way he and Honda could fight sure made it look that way.

He'd done all he could to avoid those gangs since starting school here, and he didn't really want his record broken. _I'm surprised they haven't tried hitting me up for my lunch money or something._ Thinking about it, he was pretty sure why they hadn't. When your big brother was Seto Kaiba, you got out of a lot of normal childhood trauma. _And into a whole different level of it._ He could accept the difference.

"Well, what do we have here?" Oh, this was not good. One of the gangs he'd been thinking about was standing right across the street from him. The one who had spoken cracked his knuckles a few times, and Mokuba rolled his eyes. This guy looked like he's gotten his outfit and his lines directly from the most popular gang movies. "Looks like it's the littlest Kaiba."

Mokuba couldn't believe his luck. Or lack of it. "Glad you can recognize me." He hoped the idiot got the implied threat of his big brother's punishment if anything happened to him.

"You know, I don't see his big brother around here anywhere," the leader looked around at the rest of his gang. Mokuba took a quick look at them all and wouldn't have classified any of them as having the brains it took to put a school uniform on in the first place. That probably explained a lot about them. "Guess that means we can have some fun."

"Um, Matsumoto, he can probably _tell_ his big brother what we do to him," one of the others pointed out. Mokuba decided he just might be smart enough to put his own uniform on. If he had someone to guide him. "This probably isn't a good idea."

Matsumoto shoved his lackey roughly. "Don't you tell me what's a good idea and what isn't, Koga. I make that kind of decision for us, you got it?"

This somehow wasn't turning into the kind of day that Mokuba had hoped it would. Was there some kind of curse on the Kaibas today? As the gang started across the street to him, he began to wonder.

Sticking around there started to look _very_ unattractive as the idiots got closer. Deciding he'd explain things to Seto later, Mokuba started to back away, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be cutting around to the sides. Matsumoto and his pals just kept coming closer, with Matsumoto himself looking as if he were about to start pummelling the smaller boy as soon as he got close enough.

Mokuba had heard a few things about this gang leader, and none of them were good. Matsumoto's personal hero was Hirotani, the leader of one of the more powerful gangs in the city. There was some kind of history between Hirotani and Jonouchi, but he'd never cared enough to really dig into the details. It was just things he'd heard whispered about in classrooms and lunchrooms and the occasional playground gossip session. Matsumoto hoped that when he was old enough, Hirotani would've heard enough about _him_ to want him in _his_ gang. Mokuba was all for hero worship, but some things were just stupid.

"What makes you think Hirotani's going to want you if you get yourself beaten up because you messed with _him_, Matsumoto?" Koga tried again to get his leader to see sense, but got shoved back even harder for his pains.

"Are you kidding? Kaiba's not here, and this little brat's not going to say anything about what I do to him, if he knows what's good for him." Matsumoto made a quick gesture, and two of his thugs started to move faster towards Mokuba. "Isn't that right, little Kaiba?"

"You've gotta be joking!" Mokuba wondered just how many bad movies this guy had been watching. There was no _way_ he wasn't going to let Seto know what had happened, if anything actually did. He hurried back, taking a quick look behind to see what he was backing himself into.

That proved to not exactly be the best choice of action, as his feet caught on the edge of a large sandbox, and he windmilled his arms quickly, trying not to fall into it. He didn't, but not because of anything he himself had done. The two goons that had been motioned forward grabbed onto each of his arms and pulled him forward, closer to Matsumoto.

"So, littlest Kaiba, looks like there's nowhere for you to go. Don't pass out from fright, now. That would really put a damper on my fun." The leader smirked, obviously thinking his dialogue was the absolute height of cleverness. Mokuba just snorted.

"You guys are nuts. What makes you think I'm scared of you?"

Matsumoto laughed raucously, leaning back with his hands on his hips. "You were just trying to run away, you know. I think you're scared, and too scared to even admit it!"

"Wrong." Mokuba smirked up at them, kicking as hard as he could on Matsumoto's beefy leg, wrenching his arms out of the goons' grip. They were tough, but they weren't all that much compared to Pegasus' hirelings. "I just didn't want to stare at your ugly faces all the time." Without waiting for a reply, he darted into the woods, hoping he avoided the couple he'd heard earlier, as well as the gang that was now hot on his heels. Though if he had to choose, interrupting someone's little makeout session was a lot less painful. He hoped.

* * *

Bakura frowned slightly as he came up to the school, looking around. He didn't think Kaiba's car could've been fixed _this_ fast, not with the way he'd been reacting at school. So that meant Mokuba should still be here.

Which he was not.

There wasn't any one there at all, to be perfectly precise. He'd never made a practice of going by here, but he'd always rather assumed there'd be someone _somewhere_. This kind of emptiness unnerved him.

And it still didn't answer what was the important question of the hour: where was Mokuba?

He almost jumped as he felt the Spirit's presence moving closer to the forefront, and could sense him looking through his own eyes. It was one of the more eerie feelings of his life to feel those eyes moving and know that he wasn't the one doing it. It was bad enough when it was a hand or a voice, but his _eyes_ just had an entirely different level of weird to it.

_He was here. Those are his sneaker tracks._ The Spirit's attention was on one particular section of the ground, with several different shoe markings going here and there. Bakura had no idea how his dark other could figure it out, but it seemed pretty accurate. So, where was he now?

He could definitely feel his eyes being rolled in exasperation. _Use the Ring. You can do that much. You've done it before._ Bakura flushed slightly, remembering how his Item had guided them to the underground labyrinth dueling arena once before. He had no idea how it had done it, but maybe now...

Taking the Ring in both hands, he concentrated, forming the mental image of Mokuba. _Where is he, Ring? Show me where he is._ He waited, keeping the image firmly in his mind, and the need to find the boy. His dark side was also concentrating, and Bakura knew he was forming conclusions that he himself wasn't right now. The Spirit _knew_ something, something else that was being kept from him.

Before he could ask the other what it was, the Ring began to glow slightly, and one of the pointers lifted to direct him to the nearby woods. It wasn't a very _big_ stretch of trees and underbrush, but it was something someone could hide in, if they weren't all that big. Mokuba was roughly about Yugi's size. There would be plenty of places for him to get lost in, or worse, get in trouble in. Bakura shivered faintly; it had been quite a long time since he'd ever worried about someone other than himself.

_So don't get started now, host._ The Dark Spirit snapped sharply. _We have to find him for **my** reasons, not because we 'care' about him. Understood?_ Unspoken was the certain threat if Bakura _didn't_ understand, he would be removed from the situation entirely.

"I understand." Bakura started following the Ring's pointer, trying to ignore the small ache that came from the exchange. He _liked_ Mokuba. The younger Kaiba was so much unlike his brother, so full of life and dreams. _Maybe he reminds me of me, a long time ago._ Before the Ring had entered his life, before his mother and sister had died, before everything had become cold and distant in so many ways to him.

He didn't need the Spirit's admonishment to keep his mind on what he was supposed to be doing, though. He could feel sorry for himself later, when he was safe at home. For now, he just had to find Mokuba.

"Hey, Koga, don't you want to help find him?" A nasty voice rose from ahead of him not long after he entered the strip of woods, and he frowned. He didn't recognize either voice or name, but just the tone set the hair on the back of his neck up. He'd heard enough bullies in his time to recognize one, even if he hadn't seen them doing anything.

"Sorry, I'm not going to get involved with this. You guys are on your own. I'll come visit you in the hospital, though. If you get that far." A few laughs were heard, then Bakura saw a tall, dark haired boy coming through the trees towards him. He was sloppily dressed, with a hard sort of look to him, and he stopped the second he saw the pale-haired boy. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Mokuba." Bakura responded without thinking, and almost at once flinched from the scorn heaped on him by the Spirit for revealing his purpose so easily. _You never tell anything to anyone! That's madness!_ The Spirit was on the verge of taking over, when the boy spoke again.

"Well, good luck. He's back there somewhere. Matsumoto wants to get his hands on him. I think he's crazy to mess with that kid, so I'm out of here." Without another word, the kid headed past Bakura and out of the woods, muttering to himself about how stupid his friends were.

_Well, that didn't go too badly._ The Spirit groused, and Bakura could almost feel the disapproving eyes on him. _Don't think you can get away with that every time, though. Now, let's find the brat._

Bakura concentrated on the Ring and Mokuba again, taking careful steps forward. He didn't bother worrying about the bullies stalking Mokuba. If they bothered him, he knew what their fate was going to be. As much as he didn't want that for them, they could avoid it if they left him alone. Not that they would know that, though. It was hard to figure out how he felt about this kind of thing. No one _knew_ harassing him could wind up being four different kinds of fatal, so he shouldn't be expected to be any more spared than anyone else. But he still occasionally...

"Bakura?" He stopped in his tracks, the Ring's pointer going straight to the side, and looked over to see a pair of gray eyes looking back at him. A flash of Pegasus' castle came back to him, being there when Mokuba had opened his eyes after his soul had been returned to him. He himself had just awakened a few minutes previously, after whatever it was that had knocked him out (he was still unclear on all the details of _that_, just that it somehow involved Honda and the Spirit of the Ring, and that neither of them were saying anything to _him_ about it.), and one of the first things he'd really noticed had been Mokuba's revival.

"Yeah, it's me." He smiled a little, casually tucking the Ring back under his sweater. The Spirit had told him that Honda thought he'd gotten rid of it, and if he did anything to let them know otherwise, Hell would be _preferable_ to pay. He doubted Mokuba was the type to spill anything like that, if he'd even noticed, though.

"What are you doing here?" The small boy squirmed his way out of the small hiding place he'd been in and brushed himself off quickly. "You haven't seen my brother around, have you?"

"No, I haven't. He was still at school when I saw him last. In fact, that's kind of why I'm here. I'd heard you were going to be here by yourself, and I thought it might be a good idea to keep you company. There's all kinds of bad elements around here, you know." Bakura glanced to where he could hear voices coming closer, and turned back the way they'd come. "In fact, we should probably get out of here right now."

Mokuba was clever enough to get the hint and nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for coming, Bakura. I guess having someone around to watch me isn't that bad of an idea." He made a slight face as they headed back to the formal school grounds. "Seto would probably say that he told me so. Or that he's the only person watching me that he needs."

"That's usually true. He takes very good care of you." Bakura could almost feel the Spirit watching the miniature gang out of the corner of their eyes. He could hear them whispering to each other, but he was too far away to hear them right now.

_I can fix that._ The Ring glowed faintly under his shirt at the Spirit's words, and moments later their conversation filled his ears clearly.

"I don't believe it, the wimp's got a _friend_!" Thick anger and stupid stubbornness filled the words. As gangs went, this probably made him the leader. "We don't want a _witness_!"

"He doesn't look all that tough," someone else said. Bakura could feel the contempt curdling in the Spirit's mind at that, as well as a hint of anticipation. His foes underestimating him had always amused him. "We could probably take him."

A third voice spoke up, with something Bakura had never much thought he would hear. "Are you _nuts_? Do you know who that guy is?" After negation from the others, the third continued. "That's Bakura Ryou. My cousin told me about him. He used to go to school with him before Bakura moved here. People who get too close to him wind up in comas. No one knows why. They just _do_."

Well, now that was interesting. He'd never run into someone who actually knew of the things that had happened before he'd come to Domino. There would be something else to think about once he got home that night, it seemed. Would this be fame? Infamy? Just bad luck?

"Weirdo. Come on, let's find Koga and get out of here. I don't have time to waste on _two_ wimps when we could be doing some tagging." Ah, the busy schedule of the modern bully. Bakura had no idea how they kept up with their social lives with such pressing problems.

_Sarcasm. You're improving, host._

Bakura made no response to that, letting the Ring's glow fade away. He was lucky Mokuba hadn't noticed anything, especially since he would have no idea how to answer any of the questions the preteen would be certain to have. Somehow he thought 'this is a magical Item from ancient Egypt which houses the soul of a thief and stealer of souls who takes over my body pretty much whenever he wants and told me to come hang out with you until your brother gets here or else' wouldn't go over very well. He felt a rumbling sort of assent from the Spirit and decided now was as good a time as any to work on the small talk.

"So, where did you want to wait for your brother?" He waved one hand around the expanse of space in front of them as they emerged from the strip of forest. "He probably won't be too much longer." He checked his watch briefly, frowning. Had he lost some time somewhere? It shouldn't be _quite_ this late should it? He wouldn't be surprised if he had. That alleyway...

"Over here's good." Mokuba settled down not too far from the road, crossing his legs underneath him. "Thanks again, Bakura. You know, you always kind of seem to be around when I need someone to watch over me. Like back at Duelist Kingdom."

This conversation would have been so much easier if the Spirit wasn't laughing in the back of his head the way he was. "Well, I was just in the right place at the right time I guess. It happens." He shrugged a little, grinning. "Maybe I should ask your brother for a paycheck for watching out for you."

Mokuba laughed, shaking his head. "I don't think he'd pay up. He's not really cheap, but ..."

Bakura figured out what the younger boy was talking about right away. "He'd probably think it was some kind of insult, as if I were trying to say he couldn't take care of you himself. And that's wrong. He does. He takes incredible care of you."

"I know. I'm lucky to have him." Mokuba stared downward for a moment or two, a serious look in his eyes. "I mean so much to him, I guess I can't be that surprised that people have tried to use me. Like Pegasus did, I mean. Seto's really young to do what he does, and a lot of people don't think he can do it, so they want what he has, and..."

"And they see you as an easy way to get it." Bakura said softly, watching the other boy intently. Mokuba nodded, and Bakura winced to himself. He knew the feeling of being used for what you were, or what you were to someone else, quite intimately. "It won't be that way forever, Mokuba. People will figure out that hurting you won't do anything but get your brother angry. And an angry Kaiba Seto isn't something to toy around with."

Mokuba jerked his head up, grinning at him. "I know. That's what I was trying to tell those idiots back there." He glanced back to the woods briefly. "I don't think they got the message though. Wonder why they headed off."

"Who knows?" Bakura shrugged casually, wondering for a moment what Mokuba knew about _his_ past. If it was anything at all, it didn't seem to bother him. "I'm just glad they're not trying anything. I don't think they'd like the results." For a moment, he wondered if his dark side had taken over, as Mokuba seemed to be staring at him pretty strangely.

"Bakura, are you feeling all right? You sounded kind of...mean for a second." The boy looked more curious than scared, nudging the Spirit into a kind of amused approval. That in and of itself made Bakura more and more nervous about what his other side could want with this whole situation.

_Idiot. He asked you a question, don't draw too much attention to yourself._ Bakura tried not to show that anything unusual had happened as the Spirit mentally poked him. He smiled a little ruefully at Mokuba, trying to look as if this were normal. "I'm fine. I just don't like people trying to hurt my friends."

Mokuba blinked, gray eyes full of surprise. "We're friends? I mean...I guess we are, but I just never thought about it. You know how Seto feels about Yugi's friends and everything..."

"Mokuba, this may just be me, but as much as you adore your brother, it's permissible for you to think differently about people. I doubt he'll disown you just because you like someone he doesn't. He wouldn't be that good of a brother if he did, after all."

The smaller boy digested that carefully as he looked back up at the pale-haired teen. "Did you ever have a brother, Bakura?"

Now what had brought that on? "No, I didn't." He looked away briefly, images of letters that never had an answer going through his mind.

"Oh. You're so good at giving out advice, I figured you must've been a big brother."

Bakura smiled faintly. "But I was once. I just didn't have a brother. I had a sister once. Amane." He ran his fingers through some of the grass thoughtfully. "It's really been a long time since I thought about her. It's been a long time, but I still miss her."

Wide eyes stared up at him, in the manner of all children who want a story. "I never heard you had a sister." Mokuba hesitated for a moment. "But I never really heard that much about you, anyway." He flushed a little, looking down for a heartbeat or two. "That was very rude, excuse me."

"I don't mind. If you'd like to hear about her...it should fill up the time until your brother gets here anyway." Bakura wasn't surprised that Mokuba nodded quite eagerly, and he made himself as comfortable as he could. "Well, a long time ago, about five or six years ago, and very far away...a few towns over...there lived the Bakuras, with two children: Ryou and Amane."

**To Be Continued**


	3. Success and Satisfaction

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** Afternoon Memories  
**Chapter Title:** Success and Satisfaction  
**Story Word Count:** 14,567  
**Chapter Word Count:** 5,223  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Focus:** Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Mokuba, Bakura Ryou, Yami no Bakura **Notes:** Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** Mokuba is stuck alone waiting for his brother to come get him. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring has plans to use that to his advantage.

* * *

Kaiba watched as the mechanic finished off the job, his cold blue eyes boring a hole in the man's back. His gaze hadn't lifted for a moment since the work had begun, and he saw no reason for that to change now that it was over with. In his experience, you could get bad service just as easily after things were completed as you could before, and he wasn't in the mood for something like that.

"That should be everything," the worker got up, brushing his hands off. "I hope you're satisfied, sir." There wasn't a trace of sarcasm in his voice, and that was all to the good. If there had been, the repercussions would've been intense.

The CEO glanced once at the wheel, then pulled his wallet out and removed a few bills. "Here, this should cover it. Keep any change." Without bothering to look at the mechanic again, he slid back into the back seat and leaned back. "Get over to my brother's school. Now."

Arakaki stifled a sigh as he nodded slightly to the mechanic. _Welcome to the world of working for the Kaibas. Occasional benefits. Mostly ulcers. Big ones._ He started the limousine and carefully headed on out of the parking lot, checking to see the time. He winced just a little; Kaiba was going to be nearly an hour late picking up Mokuba. He was glad he didn't work at the mansion. He had a feeling things were going to be a trifle tense there tonight.

* * *

"I would've done just about anything for Amane." Bakura wished he had brought along the one picture he had of her, but that stayed safe in his photo album at home. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd looked at it. Maybe on her birthday? It might've been. It wasn't that he didn't want to remember her, far from it. But it was easier living with the memories if he didn't have something physical to stare at that was _her_.

"I know the feeling." Mokuba nodded quickly, eyes bright with thoughts of Seto. "Having a brother or sister is the greatest!"

"I didn't think so all the time when I was little, though." Bakura smiled faintly, thinking of when his parents had first brought her home. Like so many new older brothers, his first and only question at the time had been _Can you take her back?_ "I liked being an only child back then. But I got used to her."

Mokuba tilted his head slightly to the side, thinking. "I don't think Seto ever wanted me to not be there. At least he never told me if he didn't. I can't imagine him _not_ being there, though."

"I'd say that's the way it is when you're the younger one." Bakura smiled a little, stretching himself out on the grass. He could feel the Ring shifting a little under his shirt and tried to subtly put one hand to adjust it without Mokuba noticing. He knew the Kaiba didn't actually talk that much to Yugi and his friends, but his orders had been not to let _anyone_ know about it, no matter what. It wasn't as if they were optional orders, either.

He closed his eyes slightly, wondering when Mokuba would ask what had happened to Amane. Maybe he wouldn't; that would be a little rude, after all, and while his big brother had never cared about what manners he showed to anyone else, Mokuba was almost the opposite. _Maybe I should just tell him._ It would be the first time he'd talked about what _had_ happened in a long time. Maybe ever. He knew that Mokuba wanted to know, though. It wouldn't hurt to satisfy his curiosity.

"It happened a few years ago." _Before I got the Ring._ He touched it lightly, not even thinking about it when he did. His life was divided into _Before The Ring_ and _After The Ring_. "We didn't live here, then, we lived in Tokyo, in the Yamagata district. Amane and I were both born there, actually. Father was away a lot, like he still is, on archaeological expeditions. Mother took care of us, though. She was even teaching me how to cook. She wanted to go back to school once we were both old enough to take care of ourselves, and maybe try to be a professional chef. She was the best cook I've ever known, really." Just the thought of some of the things she used to cook made his mouth water. Maybe he could try to fix one of her recipes tonight. It wouldn't hurt.

Mokuba nodded, turning slightly to face him. "She sounds like a really nice lady. Wish I could meet her." He could just barely remember his mother, if he thought hard enough about it.

"So do I." Bakura closed his eyes just for a second, then opened then, staring up at the crystal-blue sky. "But that's kind of part of this story, too. On why you can't. It was almost my birthday that year. It was going to be the best one I'd ever had, I just knew it. Father was even home. One of the few times I can remember him _being_ home for my birthday, or hers, really. Mother wanted to get some things for my birthday dinner. She was going to take Amane and I with her to the store."

His fingers brushed through the grass, and he was aware that the Spirit was paying attention as well. His dark tenant _knew_ all of this, since he'd ransacked Bakura's thoughts frequently over the years they'd been together, but he'd never heard Bakura telling it himself. The odds were he'd be mocked for it, but he wasn't going to stop. This was what the Spirit had wanted, anyway.

"I was watching something on television, though, something I didn't want to stop. She couldn't wait, the store would be closing soon, and there wasn't anywhere else that had what she wanted. So she left me with Father at the apartment, and took Amane with her."

She shouldn't have been gone long. The store wasn't really that far away. They could've walked, but his mother hadn't been certain how much she was actually going to be getting. Something to carry things in could well have been necessary. So, the small car was taken.

Mokuba listened, fascinated, as Bakura kept on talking, both of them caught in the story weaving. "I'd finished watching my program, and Father was telling me all about his latest trip. It started to get dark, but Mother and Amane didn't come back. It got later and later, and still, nothing. Then there was a knock at the door, and Father went, telling me just to stay where I was. It was probably Mother and Amane, after all, with some really wild story about why they were late. Nothing to get worked up about."

He tightened his grip on a few blades of grass, not taking his eyes from the sky. "But it wasn't. It was a police officer. Someone had been driving drunk, and lost control of his car, just as they were coming out of the store. They died on impact." Bakura did his best to keep his voice under control, trying so hard not to let a scrap of emotion get through. He could do this. He'd done it before, more times than he had ever wanted to recall.

A light hand touched his arm, and he turned to see Mokuba looking at him, gray eyes full of a concern he hadn't seen in years. "Saying I'm sorry isn't going to do anything," the boy spoke with wisdom beyond his years. Maybe that was a Kaiba trait, to be older than you should be. "I wish I could've met them so I'd understand how you feel. I miss my parents sometimes, too."

He really hoped Mokuba didn't try and say something about still having his father or friends. Somehow, he didn't think he would, and his trust was upheld as the smaller boy just smiled a touch at him and leaned back. _I wish I could tell him the rest of it. How Father kept going on more and more expeditions after that, and left me with baby-sitters until I was about ten or so. That was when he brought me the Ring, and I wasn't **ever** alone after that. At least not in the mental sense. Not that he knew._ But somehow after that gift, his father had let him live by himself more and more often. And shortly after _that_, the whole situation with his friends falling into comas had started up, and he'd begun to move more and more frequently, until he'd ended up here in Domino.

A sort of comfortable silence fell between the two of them. Bakura had never been one to talk all that much in the first place, and Mokuba didn't seem to have anything to say either for a while. The younger glanced at his watch a little, then at his cell phone.

"I should call Seto and see if he knows when he'll be here." He didn't actually move for the cell, though. Seto could get a little irritable if he were pestered too much, even if it were Mokuba doing it. He knew better than to press the generous limits being each other's only acknowledged family gave them.

Bakura nodded slightly, wondering what he'd be doing after Mokuba was on his way home. Yet another evening of homework and dinner, more than likely, unless the Spirit had other plans. Hopefully nothing more Kaiba-related would be involved. The more he thought about what the elder boy would probably say in this situation was starting to weigh more and more on his mind. It would not be something he wanted to hear, he feared.

"You know...I'm hungry!" Mokuba sat up suddenly, looking at the pale-haired teen. "Seto usually has some kind of snack waiting in the limo when he gets me, but who knows _when_ that's going to be today." He'd also thought about calling wherever it was that was supposed to be fixing Seto's car, and seeing if they'd actually done it yet. They'd be easier to deal with than his brother if he were in a mood.

"So am I," Bakura sat up, brushing grass away from himself. "It's a little early for anything really heavy, but I could go for a few cream puffs."

Mokuba shuddered, making an exaggerated disgusted face. "No way. I want a chocolate parfait." His eyes almost seemed to gleam with desire for one. "Those things are the _greatest_!"

"They're all right, I suppose," Bakura shrugged, thinking of the delicious filling of his favorite food. Somewhere in the back of his mind, someone else was even more disgusted than Mokuba, and he caught a mental image of an extremely rare steak. So rare he almost imagined it to be mooing. That wasn't what he'd wanted to think about. Much less find the Spirit thinking about.

"There's a place not that far from here that makes the best parfaits _ever_!" Mokuba looked ready to run down there right away. "I think it has cream puffs too, but I've never really noticed. What are they like?"

Bakura closed his eyes, quite nearly purring as he imagined his mother's cream puffs. He _had_ to make some now when he got home. Or get some before then. The thought had latched itself firmly into his mind. "They're delicious. The filling inside almost always splatters over your face when you bite into one. Mother used to tell me that's why my hair is like this, because I love cream puffs so much. My hair grew in to match them."

Mokuba laughed, reaching over to tug lightly on one of the spikes. "I don't know, aren't cream puffs supposed to be soft?" As his hand touched the hair, he blinked a little at just how soft it really was. "Well, then again..." He pulled his hand away quickly, then suddenly got to his feet. "It's Seto!" Indeed, the limosuine was turning the corner and coming closer. Mokuba bounced up and down on his heels, grabbing his things and preparing to head for home.

Bakura sighed briefly to himself. It looked as if this interesting little interlude was over with. For a while, it had been nice to talk to someone without having to worry too much about the Spirit taking over and trying to trap a soul in a card or anything else in an attempt to get some shiny gold thing. Sure, he was just here _because_ of the Spirit's insistence, but spending time with Mokuba wasn't all that bad. He was a really cute kid. So cute that it was probably illegal just for him to exist. He couldn't imagine someone that the Spirit would want to be around _less_.

The limousine's door swung open, and the elder Kaiba stepped out, his frosty gaze scanning the area as if expecting some kind of trouble to burst in out of thin air. At least his attention rested on his brother, just before Mokuba wrapped his arms around Seto's waist and hugged him with all the strength in his small body.

"Glad to see you, big brother!" Mokuba stared up at him, eyes sparkling joyfully. "Everything okay now?"

"I've had to put back a couple of meetings but nothing I can't handle." Seto's attention landed briefly on Bakura as the other boy got to his feet, brushing away the grass quickly. "Have you been all right?"

Mokuba nodded quickly, stepping back some. "Bakura came and kept me company." He looked back at the pale haired teen, an unspoken agreement flaring between them that the situation with the idiots would be kept between the two of them. "We were both getting kind of hungry, Seto. Think we can stop at the sweet shop on the way home? I want a chocolate parfait and Bakura wants some cream puffs!"

Bakura found himself flushing lightly as Kaiba's gaze landed back on him appraisingly. He had never really gotten to know the CEO, nor did he want to, but seeing that diamond-like gaze on him was disconcerting no matter what. _Mokuba can't really want me to go along with them, can he?_

"All right." Seto nodded slightly, looking back at his brother. "If you insist, Mokuba."

"Then we can give him a ride home. It's the least we can do after he went out of his way to stay with me." Mokuba grinned slightly, tugging his brother closer to the limosuine. "We had a lot of fun, too. Maybe if you're late again, he can stay with me then, too?"

Seto stared down at him, the blue ice of his eyes glinting just a little in the afternoon sunlight. "I have no intentions of ever being late again, little brother."

"So? You've got to work kind of late sometimes, too. He could keep me company then. Come on, Seto, we can't avoid everyone in the world!" Mokuba was very, very good at getting the things he wanted, especially from Seto. Bakura decided it was time he said something about this.

"I wouldn't mind keeping you company, Mokuba, but I do have things I have to do sometimes." He knew if he didn't keep at least part of his schedule clear, he'd find himself answering to more people than he wanted to about why he wasn't somewhere he'd said he'd be. The Spirit refused to let anything as meaningless as what Bakura needed to do get in the way of his plans.

Seto eyed him coolly, unknown and unknowable thoughts going on behind his eyes, then turned to the car. "Be that as it may, Mokuba has invited you to that sweet shop, and I don't suppose I can be much later than I'm already going to be."

_Get moving, host. This is better than I'd hoped._ Bakura didn't wait around for the spirit, or Kaiba, to say anything else. He just grabbed his school bag and quietly followed the Kaiba into the back of the limousuine. This afternoon was turning into something more than he'd thought it would. As long as he didn't get invited home for dinner, things would be all right. He wanted to curl up by himself in his comfortable room, a hot cup of tea in one hand and the latest edition of one of his gaming magazines in the other, and try to digest everything that had happened that day.

Once they were all in the back seat, Seto ordered the driver to take them to the sweet shop. "And don't be all day about it." He grumbled by habit. "Mokuba, what kind of homework do you have to do tonight?"

"Not a whole lot. I could probably do it on the way home, really." Mokuba thought about asking if Bakura could come stay for a while, but he could see a bit of tenseness about both of them. Maybe he should take things a little more slowly, at least for now. Besides, he had no idea if Bakura himself would even want to spend more time around _both_ of them. Seto did have kind of a reputation, a very well deserved one.

"No." Seto shook his head commandingly. "It's better for you if you do it at home."

As Mokuba started to protest, Bakura just watched in surprise. Never in all his life would he have imagined to be listening to something like _this_. Kaiba sounded just like a normal person, not an arrogant champion duelist, hell-bent on protecting what was his from anything and everything that would harm it. _Don't get used to it,_ he reminded himself carefully. _This won't last, and it isn't even something you're finding out because you wanted to._ Of course he still enjoyed knowing it anyway. He couldn't think of anyone who wouldn't have.

"We're at the sweet shop, sir," the driver said, carefully pulling the vehicle into a parking spot. "What did you want me to bring back?"

Mokuba had the door open before the question had even been finished. "Don't worry about it, we're going in ourselves this time. Just get comfortable, we might be a little while." He had Seto out of the car in a heartbeat, with Bakura following quietly. Bakura wondered if he'd actually heard the chauffer sighing in relief as the door closed behind him.

There were a few other people from their school scattered here and there among the patrons, Bakura noticed as they walked inside. A few of them whispered among themselves, especially when Mokuba asked him, "Are you sure you don't want to try a parfait, Bakura? They're really good."

He was quite certain he was blushing the deepest shade of red possible. It might even turn his hair red if it got any deeper. "No, thank you, Mokuba, not today." He made what escape he could, heading over to where the pastries were. There was no way to escape Mokuba's voice, though. The younger Kaiba was always so glad to be around his brother, he seldom bothered with hiding that joy. Today was absolutely no exception.

"What are _you_ going to get, Seto?" Mokuba wanted to know, heading over to the counter where one of their other classmates worked dispensing drinks and other things. Bakura recognized her vaguely; she had had a crush on him when he'd first arrived at Domino. Her name was Miho, though most people called her Ribbon, due to the yellow ribbon in her hair. Honda had crushed on her for a while as well, too, but that hadn't ever really gone anywhere. He kind of hoped she wouldn't ask what he was doing here with the Kaibas. An honest answer wasn't possible, and he couldn't think enough at the moment to come up with something _dis_honest.

He winced slightly, almost expecting a comment from the Spirit on that, but nothing came. He decided not to complain; maybe his unwanted companion was taking a nap or something?

_You can realize how pathetic you are without me pointing it out every time._

Or not.

"I'm not going to be getting anything other than a soda. I have other things to do than stuff my face, Mokuba." If he were talking to anyone else, that would have sounded harsh and cold. Instead, it's just a simple statement of fact. Maybe a little more distant than most people would say it, but still, it wasn't what anyone in earshot was expecting to hear.

"Wonder what he's doing here. I've seen his chauffer in a few times, but I've never seen _him_." Bakura could hear someone whispering behind his back, and kept his attention focused on selecting just the right cream puffs. He had a feeling he'd be bothered about this at some time or other, and he'd rather it wasn't now. Not with the Kaibas actually there to see it happen. Kaiba himself wouldn't care, and Mokuba could maybe make more of a deal out of it than it really was.

"He's not doing anything but getting some snacks for his brother," a second voice spoke up a little scornfully. "You guys always want to make a mountain out of a molehill."

"Oh, really? Then what're they doing with Bakura?" Not his day. Not his day at all.

"So? Last I checked, even Kaiba could have friends." The second voice sounded even more scornful this time around. "Even weird ones like Bakura." Bakura wasn't sure if he wanted to turn around and see who that was. People had been turned into game figurines for less than that kind of comment.

He didn't bother waiting around to hear the rest of the conversation, just folded the bag over and headed to the counter to pay for his purchases. Whatever made them happy to think was fine by him. He'd always know the truth, and they'd be glad to _not_ have known it if they did. The logic was a little screwy, but he was convinced it made sense.

"There's an empty booth." Mokuba seemed to have calmed down some, and Bakura sent up a little mental prayer of gratitude. The hyperness could've been a bit stressful if it had gone on much longer. Though with the size of the parfait in his grasp, it could still get much, much worse. The dreaded phrase _sugar rush_ wandered through his mind.

The two Kaibas sat down side by side, Bakura taking the other side. The small silence between them all was filled with the quiet sounds of sucking, chewing, and swallowing for several minutes. Seto took a long pull of his drink, then pinned Bakura with that cold gaze once more.

"Was there some reason you went to my brother's school, when I know it's not anywhere near where you live? I know you heard what I said to Jonouchi about not wanting him around Mokuba. What would make you think you'd be any different?" There was so much ice around the words Bakura wondered if he'd get frostbite. He also wondered what he was going to have to answer with.

Luckily, that was taken out of his hands. Or rather, out of his mouth. "Well, since Jonouchi and I are entirely different, and I'm not nearly as prone to trouble-attraction as Jonouchi is, I thought it might be a good idea for someone to keep an eye on him." The Spirit imitated his shy tones flawlessly.

Kaiba snorted contemptously. "What would _you_ have been able to do if something _had_ come up?" His eyes raked coolly across Bakura, taking into account the other's slight frame and almost too-fragile-to-be-believed looks.

"I have my ways." The dark spirit smiled craftily, one hand dropping out of sight to casually caress the deck that rested in the jacket pocket. Bakura closed his mental eyes, thinking of all the nights he'd spent refining the deck, especially once the Spirit had come into his life. If it hadn't been for Amane, he might not have even had one to start with, really. The very last birthday present she'd ever gotten him, for the first of his birthdays that she would never see, had been his very first set of Duel Monsters cards.

_Maybe that's why I decided to make this an occult deck._ The thought of saying thank you to her, or at least just to say _something_ to her, was seldom far from his mind. Though he was pretty certain that the Spirit had had some influence on his choice of deck as well, since he played it even better than Bakura himself did.

Kaiba didn't look as if he were all that convinced of what had been said, however. He just shrugged in the end, finishing off his drink. "I suppose I owe you a small favor of sorts. Just don't expect much from it."

Bakura could sense a hint or two of triumph from the other. This was what he'd wanted? This didn't make any kind of sense.

The other kept on speaking with his voice, however. "I can't really think of anything I'd need, but if there ever is anything, I suppose I could let you know." He even sounded _doubtful_ about it! Oh, he was good. He also slid back from control, letting Bakura pick up another of his cream puffs and bite into it as if nothing at all had happened.

Almost as if to break the tension that had sprung up, cream squirted out, decorating Bakura's face comically. Mokuba laughed, the clear, high, pleased laughter of an innocent child, something Bakura had almost forgotten could exist. It was nice to hear it, to remember that not everything in the universe was twisted to darkness. Bakura grabbed for the nearest tissue, wiping at his face frantically. Why did this have to happen? Just when things looked _almost_ as if he were going to get out of this with something that resembled dignity, and maybe even a little pride! Kaiba didn't know, after all, that the calm, cool, and collected Bakura he'd just spoken to wasn't the real one.

He dropped the tissue, hoping he'd gotten it all, and put what was left of the cream puff back in the bag. That was why he'd always preferred to eat them at home, where he could get himself as messy as he wanted to and wouldn't have to worry about being seen. Or about who might be seen with him. He didn't have to look up to feel Kaiba's disapproving gaze on him, but he quite nearly jumped out of his skin when the taller teen reached across the table to wipe at his nose.

"You missed a spot." Kaiba said gruffly, dabbing another couple of times before putting the napkin down. Bakura's blush burned in his cheeks as he looked away, unable to remember the last time anyone had touched his face with anything that even resembled the faintest hint of kindness. And for it to be Kaiba of all people...the world hadn't started spinning in reverse or something of that nature, had it? Everything else was going on normally...

Mokuba got to his feet a few silent minutes later. "I think we need to get on home, Seto. You do have those meetings, right? And I've got homework, and I bet Bakura does too."

"Right." Bakura stood up as he spoke, as did Kaiba, and all three headed for the door. The whispers strengthened slightly, along with a few giggles from some of the stranger girls, but all of that faded as the door closed behind them.

Once they were back in the limosuine, Kaiba tapped briefly on his laptop for a few moments, then looked at the driver, giving directions to the apartment building where Bakura lived. "We'll drop our guest off there, then go on home." His fingers danced gracefully over the keyboard again as he rescheduled the meetings he'd had to go to for a later date. He intended to spend the rest of the day with Mokuba, making up for what time they'd lost earlier. At least things hadn't been _so_ bad since he'd picked his brother up. The most annoying event had been when Bakura's cream puff had decorated him. It was a little amusing in retrospect, but at the time, the only thought on the businessman's mind had been that anyone who was spending any time with him, for _any_ reason should look their best.

Bakura said very little as the long vehicle swung through the afternoon streets. A sort of languor lay over him, and he made only the barest comments necessary to respond to either Mokuba or Kaiba whenever they spoke to him. He hoped he'd have the energy to actually get his homework and dinner done tonight. Spending time with the Kaibas wasn't something he wanted to do on a regular basis if he got _this_ tired because of it.

"Thanks, Bakura," Mokuba grinned at him as they came to a stop outside his apartment building. "I had fun this afternoon. Maybe next time you'll try one of those parfaits?"

"Maybe I will." Bakura smiled quietly, then looked at Kaiba. "Thank you for the ride home, Kaiba. If Mokuba does need someone to spend time with him when you can't, feel free to call me."

Kaiba only nodded briefly as the other stepped back, reaching to close the door. "Thank you, for watching out for him," he finally said before shutting it firmly. Bakura watched as the limosuine headed away into the press of cars, then turned to go inside. It had been an afternoon he knew he wouldn't forget.

_That's what you think, host. Can't have you taking my favor, now can I?_ He stiffened as there was a flash of mental gold, then white across his mind.

He blinked a little, staring around in confusion. Was he just now getting home from school? He had to be an hour and a half late, maybe more. The last thing he remembered was heading out of school with the others, and now he was here.

_I guess the Spirit had something to do._ He sighed a little, wishing just for a moment that he could have one afternoon that was completely normal. He glanced down as he heard something crinkle, and realized he was holding a bag of cream puffs. Maybe this was the Spirit's way of repaying him? No, he doubted it. Probably just playing the role of Bakura Ryou. At least he'd get a little something out of it. He sighed again, then headed up to his apartment. Why couldn't something at least a little _interesting_ happen to him, that had nothing to do with the Ring?

The dark spirit chuckled to himself as his host entered the elevator. It had been a very good afternoon, in every sense of the word. For him, at least. Who knew, maybe if he could work his way into Kaiba's favor, he could wind up with much more than just a few Items. He settled down to do some serious plotting, trying to think of what could be a small enough favor so Kaiba wouldn't argue about granting it, but important enough to him to make it worth his while.

Bakura put his things away as he entered his apartment, and headed over to the kitchen. At least one cream puff had a bite out of it, but he wanted something more substantial. For a moment, he thought about having a chocolate parfait, then changed his mind. Steak would be much better. But well done, not raw, like the Spirit preferred. He could at least have dinner the way he wanted it. Even if he had nothing else.

**The End**

_**Note:** I have plans on what the knife and the favor are for. Actually, if you've seen Battle City, you can guess what the knife was used for. It's the same one the Spirit will use to cut himself in accordance with his bargain with Malik. As for the favor...well, since Bakura wasn't an official Battle City registered Duelist, but he did work his way into the finals, and it was Seto's tournament, having a small favor to call on was useful, wasn't it? Though really, I doubt Kaiba would've really cared in the long run. I might do a side story or an epilogue to go more in depth on just how the favor gets called in, but for now, this story is over._

**The End**


End file.
